Drum machine

Drum machines have a range of capabilities, which go from playing a short beat pattern in a loop, to being able to program or record complex song arrangements with changes of meter and style.

[3] In the late 1990s, software emulations began to overtake the popularity of physical drum machines housed in a separate plastic or metal chassis.

The invention could produce sixteen different rhythms, each associated with a particular pitch, either individually or in any combination, including en masse, if desired.

[5] In 1959, Wurlitzer released the Side Man, which generates sounds mechanically by a rotating disc, similar to a music box.

In the early 1960s, a home organ manufacturer, Gulbransen (later acquired by Fender) cooperated with an automatic musical equipment manufacturer Seeburg Corporation, and released early compact rhythm machines Rhythm Prince (PRP),[7] although, at that time, these sizes were still as large as small guitar amp head, due to the use of bulky electro-mechanical pattern generators.

As a result of its robustness and enough compact size, these rhythm machines were gradually installed on the electronic organ as an accompaniment of organists and finally spread widely.

In the early 1960s, a nightclub owner in Tokyo, Tsutomu Katoh was consulted by a notable accordion player, Tadashi Osanai, about the rhythm machine he used for accompaniment in the club, a Wurlitzer Side Man.

Osanai, a graduate of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tokyo, convinced Katoh to finance his efforts to build a better one.

It was a floor-type machine with a built-in speaker, and featured a keyboard for manual play, in addition to the multiple automatic rhythm patterns.

It offered 16 preset patterns, and four buttons to manually play each instrument sound (cymbal, claves, cowbell and bass drum).

[15] A number of other preset drum machines were released in the 1970s, but early examples of the use can be found on The United States of America's eponymous album from 1967–8.

The first major pop song to use a drum machine was "Saved by the Bell" by Robin Gibb, which reached #2 in Britain in 1969.

Drum machine tracks were also heavily used on the Sly & the Family Stone album There's a Riot Goin' On, released in 1971.

The 1972 Timmy Thomas single "Why Can't We Live Together"/"Funky Me" featured a distinctive use of a drum machine and keyboard arrangement on both tracks.

The first album on which a drum machine produced all the percussion was Kingdom Come's Journey, recorded in November 1972 using a Bentley Rhythm Ace.

French singer-songwriter Léo Ferré mixed a drum machine with a symphonic orchestra in the song "Je t'aimais bien, tu sais..." in his album L'Espoir, released in 1974.

Miles Davis' live band began to use a drum machine in 1974 (played by percussionist James Mtume), which can be heard on Dark Magus (1977).

For this reason, many of these early machines have achieved a certain "cult status" and are now sought after by producers for use in production of modern electronic music, most notably the Roland TR-808.

Its distinctive sound almost defines 1980s pop, and it can be heard on hundreds of hit records from the era, including The Human League's Dare, Gary Numan's Dance, Devo's New Traditionalists, and Ric Ocasek's Beatitude.

In 1986, the SpecDrum by Cheetah Marketing, an inexpensive 8-bit sampling drum external module for the ZX Spectrum,[24] was introduced, with a price less than £30, when similar models cost around £250.

[26] Launched when electronic music had yet to become mainstream, the 808 received mixed reviews for its unrealistic drum sounds and was a commercial failure.

[29] Over the course of the 1980s, the 808 attracted a cult following among underground musicians for its affordability on the used market,[28] ease of use,[27] and idiosyncratic sounds, particularly its deep, "booming" bass drum.

[29] It became a cornerstone of the emerging electronic, dance, and hip hop genres, popularized by early hits such as Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing"[29] and Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force's "Planet Rock".

As well, human drummers play a "tremendously wide variety of rhythmic variations" that drum machines cannot reproduce.